It looks like the federal government may set a new record soon, but not many people are celebrating.

The partial shutdown, a showdown over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding, entered its 21st day on Friday. The previous record, set in the 1990s, was also 21 days.

Here's a look at today's shutdown news:

The unhappy record

The current partial shutdown will break the record by Saturday, CNN reports. It compiled a list of shutdowns going back to the Gerald Ford administration. Other long shutdowns include a 17-day shutdown in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter, and a 16-day shutdown in 2013 under President Barack Obama.

And as always, if you want to know the exact length of time for the shutdown, CNN has the clock.

Democrats prepare response to national emergency declaration

President Trump has considered declaring a national emergency and then ordering funding for the wall. One way he might do that is by diverting emergency aid from places hit by natural disasters, like Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and California, the New York Times reported.

Sen. Lyndsey Graham, for one, called for the president to declare an emergency. "I hope it works," he said, according to the Times.

It appears the Pentagon is also preparing in case that happens. "The Department of Defense is reviewing available authorities and funding mechanisms to identify options to enable border barrier construction," Navy Capt. Bill Speaks, a Pentagon spokesman, told USA Today.

Funding for such a project could come from the Pentagon's budget for construction projects already approved by Congress, USA Today said.

Federal employees with their family and friends protest the government shutdown outside of the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in Detroit, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.(Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

Federal workers protest

More than 800,000 federal workers are affected by the shutdown, and some of them turned out around the country to protest, NBC News reported. Hundreds of them went to the White House for a protest on Thursday, while other smaller protests took place elsewhere.

"Please let us go back to work, we're hungry. We're running out of money and it's not about any party," one IRS employee told NBC.

The president tweeted Friday that H-1B visa holders, who have temporary permission to be in the country for work, will soon see changes to the program, "including a potential path to citizenship. We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S."

It was unclear whether Trump was considering more changes than those proposed in December by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Reuters reported, noting that H-1B holders are already eligible for sponsorship for legal permanent residency.